Is the ROK Goverment Warming Up to N. Korean Defectors’ Leaflet Campaign?

The ROK government is still sending people to question the balloon people, but it’s not the Unification Ministry anymore. Even the Lee Administration clearly wasn’t comfortable with their activities. Now, however, it’s the boys from ROK Army psyops that are asking the questions. Although it’s not completely clear from this Joongang Ilbo article, I take this as a good sign:

“Only a while ago, we had officials from the Unification Ministry telling us to refrain from sending leaflets,” said Park Sang-hak, head of the civic group. “But I guess the government stance has changed since.

The JoongAng Ilbo interviewed Park, 42, on Wednesday, the same day he was visited by two Defense Ministry officials handling psychological operations. Park – an old hand at these interrogations, having been questioned by police a dozen times during previous administrations whose policy was to engage North Korea – was grilled about who wrote the messages on the leaflets, and how the group was printing them. Park later gave the officials samples of the leaflets, as well as a CD containing videos showing how they are produced.

Lots of interesting stuff in that article about how the balloons work; I recommend you read the whole thing.

The Army’s money might be best spent by simply supporting Park’s group, since North Koreans may be the most knowledgeable about what messages might appeal to other North Koreans. If you want to contribute to the leaflet campaign, you can do so through the North Korean Freedom Coalition.

3 Responses

  1. FFNK runs an apparently highly effective 99 Cent Store operation. I don’t know how Korean Peninsula meteorology works, but maybe with a little more financing, FFNK could use the basic non-lethal transportation technology of the World War II balloon bombs as an engineering starting point to cover all of North Korea with the truth.

  2. If the ROK is done persecuting balloon lauchers and actually finally encourages them to launch,.. Then maybe the ROK will realize that those freedom fighters for North Koreans will continue to send messages of hope to the hopeless North Koreans; even without Official Government Blessings to proceed.

    That is the beauty of living in a 1st world democracy. It is time for Seo’ul to no longer be afraid of Pyeong’yong. Present day Baek’du is too mercifull to Koryo. The southern twin needs to finally stand up to its northern counterpart.

  3. SK blinks first??

    S. Korean military puts anti-N. Korea propaganda leaflet plan on hold
    2010/05/30 15:59 KST

    SEOUL, May 30 (Yonhap) — South Korea’s military has deferred a plan to fly anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets to North Korea, a defense ministry official said Sunday, as the communist nation has kept up harsh rhetoric against Seoul’s propaganda warfare.

    Distributing propaganda leaflets is among a series of measures South Korea plans to take in retaliation for North Korea’s sinking of a southern warship in March. Other steps include halting trade with the impoverished neighbor and resuming loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts along the border.

    “Leaflet distribution had been put off due to weather conditions so far, but we have now decided to put it on hold for the time being, considering the political situation,” the ministry official said on condition of anonymity.

    North Korea has denied any responsibility for the sinking that killed 46 sailors, and strongly protested South Korea’s punitive measures. Pyongyang has warned of an “all-out war” if it is punished or sanctioned, and threatened to strike down border loudspeakers if propaganda broadcasts resume.

    It has also threatened to consider shutting a cross-border route to a joint industrial complex in the North, casting clouds over the fate of the factory park in the border town of Kaesong, the last-remaining reconciliation symbol between the two sides.

    South Korea appears to be concerned that the leaflet campaign could escalate military tensions at a time when the nation is focusing on diplomatic efforts to bring the case to the U.N. Security Council. Also believed to be a factor behind the decision were calls for restraint from companies worried about the fate of their business in the North.

    Seoul has resumed FM radio propaganda broadcasts into the North while preparing to launch loudspeaker broadcasts on the heavily armed border. The loudspeaker campaign, which had been expected to begin in mid-June, is also likely to be to put on hold.

    The two Koreas halted decades of propaganda warfare against each other under a 2004 deal struck when reconciliation between the sides reached a high following the first-ever summit of their leaders in 2000.

    But their ties were badly damaged as North Korea strongly protested President Lee Myung-bak’s hard-line policies on Pyongyang, including his linking of aid to progress in international efforts to end North Korea’s nuclear programs.

    The sides technically remain in a state of conflict after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

    http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/nati…02300315F.HTML